The Internet of Things (IoT) refers to the network of physical objects with Internet connectivity (connected devices), and the communication between them. These Internet-enabled devices and systems collect and exchange data. IoT has been defined as “the infrastructure of the information society”. IoT extends Internet connectivity beyond traditional devices such as desktop and laptop computers and smart phones to a range of devices and everyday things that use embedded technology to communicate and interact with the external environment via the Internet.
There are great challenges to connecting such devices, as their numbers are in the billions, and many operate in critical systems. Scalability, security, and availability are critical attributes. Without these, delays can make applications unusable, and security breaches can risk data and much worse. Availability particularly can require devices to operate reliably, without intervention, over multiple years. Power consumption can be critical to support multi-year operation. Particularly, Low Power Wide Area Network (LPWAN) devices are expected to operate for ten or more years. Given the large numbers, cost can also be a critical factor. If costs per device are too high, entire fields of applications can be out of reach.
What is needed is a system and method for a dynamically scalable infrastructure that provides secure, low-cost, low-power, highly available communications between connected devices.